VLADIVOSTOK, September 11. /TASS/. Russia doesn’t have any disputes with Sweden and Finland, so the NATO aspirations of these countries are different from those of Ukraine, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the RBC news outlet on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.
"The thing is that the Russian Federation has no issues with either Sweden or Finland. We have no security-related issues with them. We have no territory-related issues with them. These countries are not waging a civil war against their regions. These countries do not kill Russians on their territory. These countries do not ban the Russian language as a pariah language. So we have no problems with them. The situation there is completely different," he said. "But things are completely different with Ukraine, and the situation in Ukraine is absolutely unacceptable to us."
Peskov also said Russia "does not threaten either Finland or Sweden."
"We hope we are not threatened by either Sweden or Finland. And we hope that there will be no missiles on the territory of these countries that will be directed toward us," he said.
Speaking about the strengthening of Russia's northern borders upon the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, Peskov said that Moscow is hearing statements about the willingness and readiness of new NATO members to host NATO military infrastructure on their territory.
"We have never deceived ourselves, never worn rose-colored glasses and never questioned the fact that NATO is a product created by the Cold War era, the era of confrontation, and NATO is an alliance that rather leads to confrontation and to tension on the continent," he stated. "NATO is not capable of performing any functions or actions that lead to de-escalation."